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Critique of British Imperialism in Satyajit Ray's the Chess

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Critique of British Imperialism in Satyajit Ray's the Chess Sección de Filología de la Facultad de Humanidades Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana CRITIQUE OF BRITISH IMPERIALISM IN SATYAJIT RAY’S THE CHESS PLAYERS, ASHUTOSH GOWARIKER’S LAGAAN AND DANNY BOYLE’S SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Grado en Estudios Ingleses Trabajo de fin de grado realizado por Mª Esmeralda Pérez González bajo la supervisión del profesor Juan José Cruz Junio 2016 Contents Abstract ......……………………………………………………………………………...2 1 Introduction …….……………………………………………………………………...2 2 Methodology …….…………………………………………………………………….3 3 Authors and works analysed ………………………………………………………..4 4 Postcolonialism: British imperialism in India ……………………………………..12 4.1 The British in India: Elements of British colonialism in Satyajit Ray’s The Chess Players and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan …………..……………..12 4.2 Neocolonialism in Contemporary India: Elements of British colonialism in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire …………..……………………………….21 5 Feminism: British imperialism and the second sex in India ……………………29 5.1 Colonial India: Situation of women in The Chess Players and Lagaan…....29 5.2 Contemporary India: Situation of women in Slumdog Millionaire…………..45 6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………..54 7 Appendix …...………………………………………………………………………..55 8 Works Cited ………………………………………………………………………….57 1 Abstract This research makes an analysis of three Indian films—Satyajit Ray’s The Chess Players (1977), Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001) and Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (2008)—to see the evolution of British imperialism in India since its beginnings until nowadays. Apart from that, I will divide my analysis in two main content blocks: firstly, the one dedicated to the analysis of British imperialism in colonial and contemporary India; and, secondly, the one that deals with the issue of British imperialism and its effects on Indian women. 2 1. Introduction Before starting with the methodology and the analysis that I have made of the The Chess Players, Lagaan and Slumdog Millionaire, I will comment briefly on the context in which this research has been made: I am very interested in Indian history, which is very rich and extensive, and in Indian cinema. Bollywood films show a very different way of telling stories compared to Hollywood films and reflect, in some sense, the history and the reality of the country in a unique way. Since the colonial past of India has influenced much of its present, I have decided to analyse British imperialism in India since its beginnings until nowadays. In order to do that, as I have mentioned at the beginning of this section, I will analyse three films that represent three different stages in British colonialism in the country. As Indian films show an accurate portrait of India and the Indian national sentiment, I will deal with different scenes of each film to see how has British imperialism evolved in Indian history. 3 2. Methodology The methodology that has been used for this research is based in two main approaches: the Postcolonial one, that helps me to understand better the role of British imperialism in India during the colonial times; and the Feminist one, that helps me to trace the consequences of British imperialism on Indian women. Firstly, with the Postcolonial approach, I will use concepts such as hybridity, mimicry, opposition and subalternity. Hybridity is the situation when a person from the colony develops a mixed culture between the native one and that of the colonizers. Mimicry is the situation when a person from the colony starts imitating the culture of the colonizers. Opposition implies a point of view of the colonizers in which the natives are the Other, that is constructed on what they are not (for example, we, the colonizers, are civilized, whereas they, the natives, are savage). And, subalternity, shows a situation where the natives react to the situation of being othered and seen as inferior people by the colonizers. This reaction consists in blending their culture into that of the colonizers in order to preserve their customs and retain their social status (as it happened with the Aborigines when the conquerors arrived to the Isles). Secondly, we have the Feminist approach, that comprises the use of two theories within the movement of the same name, that are the Western Feminism and the theory of Third World Feminism, which is the one that defends the idea of the double colonization of women in the colonies (this includes the imposition of two different codes that oppress them: the culture of the colonizers and the male chauvinism that exists in their own surroundings). 4 3. Authors and works analysed In order to better understand this research, I will present briefly the directors of each of the films that I have analysed. The importance of filmmakers can be crucial because their styles of filming can help to understand the non-diegetic elements of their works. Firstly, I will talk about Satyajit Ray (Calcutta, India, 1921-Kolkata, 1992), who is the director of The Chess Players (1977). He is one of the most important directors in Indian cinema and some of his most important films are Pather Panchali (1955) and Apur Sansar (1959), that are part of the so-called “Apu Trilogy”. Regarding his style of filming, his works are influenced by the Italian neorealism and are made mostly in Bengali (Ganti:25) . Apart from that, Ray portrays reality with crudity in his works, with poverty, fallible heroes (for example, Apur Sansar’s Apu, or The Chess Players’ nobles) and there is no music in his films (as it is conceived in Bollywood with songs and dances), something that can be shocking because of the idea that all Indian films must include music. Regarding screenshots, it is worth mentioning that Ray makes use of a documentary technique, because in most of the screenshots I see that the camera is at the same level of the characters. This position of the camera permits me to see the story of the film from their point of view and also makes easier to familiarize with each of them, with their thoughts, their feelings, etc. 5 Figure 1 Satyajit Ray Regarding The Chess Players, it is the story of the Indian kingdom of Avadh in the times of the East India Company (from 1757 to 1858) and all the events that take place until the British attack this territory in order to have control over it. These events that I am referring to take place before the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In this film, the plot is developed through two parallel stories that complement each other: firstly, the story of the kingdom of Avadh itself, in which the British try to dethrone the king of this state (Amjad Khan). They do this in order to have absolute control over Avadh by accusing the king of being a bad ruler. Secondly, there is the parallel story, with two nobles (Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey). Both are passionate about chess and do everything they can to play their favourite game whenever and wherever they can, even if they have to leave their families aside to do that. 6 Figure 2 Next, I will talk about Ashutosh Gowariker (Bombay, India, 1964), the director of Lagaan: Once Upon a time in India (2001). He is a very well-known director in the scene of Bollywood who has made films such as Swades: We, the People (2004), Jodhaa Akbar (2008) or the upcoming Mohenjo Daro (2016). Regarding his style of filming, I must say that he uses the theme of nationalism, either to talk about the past of India or about the present, giving an enfoque introspectivo y realista del patriotismo (Amin:152). With the introspective and realistic view of patriotism, I understand that Gowariker tries to portray patriotism from the inside and showing its good and bad points. Apart from that, I would like to mention also the special use of music that is present in Gowariker’s films, giving diegetic and non-diegetic information about the plot (something characteristic of Bollywood films from the late 40s onwards [Amin:61]), specially about the feelings of the characters, as you can see in Figures 4 and 5 (in contrast to Ray’s films, where music appears, but it does not give any extra information about the characters). Gowariker also makes use of different kinds of takes, to show not only the point of view of the people of Champaner, but also that of the British characters. 7 Figure 3 Ashutosh Gowariker Figure 4 (Lagaan: 25:19) In this Figure, it is shown a medium long shot that has plenty of light (not only because the take is set in the daytime, but because it shows the happiness of the people of Champaner for the rain). Apart from that, there is also a contrast in the clothing of the men and women of Champaner, because men wear white clothes, while women are dressed in red and orange. 8 Figure 5 (Lagaan: 28:57) This Figure presents a medium shot with plenty of light as the previous Figure. In this take, there is a contrast in the colours of the clothing again. This time, the difference is between the clothes of the elder people of the village, and Bhuvan’s clothing. Apart from that, it is remarkable how they are giving thanks for the rain during the song Ghanan Ghanan, that is also danced in the previous figure as a way of showing their happiness for this meteorological phenomenon and its consequences in their crops and their paying taxes for the British. In relation to that, I have to mention that Lagaan (tax in English) is the story of the Indian drought-stricken village of Champaner in the times of the British Raj (from 1858 to 1947). The people of this village have to pay abusive taxes imposed by the British and Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), a young man from the village decides to rebel against this injustice.
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